No Shaheed Bhagat Singh Chowk in Lahore, Pak hardliners

Dailybhaskar.com|Nov 09, 2012, 12:16PM IST

Lahore: Giving in to the pressure from hardliner groups like the Jamaat-ud-Dawah and a section of local residents, Pakistani authorities have put on hold a move to rename a roundabout in Lahore after Indian freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.

The city district government of Lahore had announced last month that Shadman Chowk would be renamed Bhagat Singh Chowk to acknowledge his revolutionary spirit and his role in the movement against the erstwhile British rulers.

Shaheed Bhagat Singh played a crucial role in India's independence movement. Born in present-day Pakistan known as Chak No. 105, GB, Banga village, Jaranwala Tehsil in the Lyallpur district of the Punjab Province of British India.

Singh was influenced by a number of incidents during his childhood which instilled in him a deep sense of patriotism to eventually take up the struggle for India's independence. In 1919, at the age of 12, Bhagat Singh visited the site of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, where non-violent people gathered at a public meeting were fired upon without warning, killing hundreds and wounding thousands.

His contribution to countries independence from Bitish Raj is unparallel. Even Punjab (India) CM, Sukhbir Singh, is advocating renaming of the Chowk. The CM would bring up the issue when he meets leaders of Punjab (Pakistan) government on November 5.

His voice would found resonance in Shiromani Akali Dal's (SAD) RS member, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa. He would be travelling to Pakistan on November 3 to attend SAARC speaker's conference. Sukhbir will join Dhindsa on November 5.